By now, Iwasaki Shigeru's mind had begun to grow hazy.
Wait, wasn't I carrying out a secret mission on the border of the Land of Fire?
"Mmm~ Lord Iwasaki Shigeru, it's been quite a while since you last came here~"
No... I'm on a mission... the border... the Land of Fire...
Amid his muddled thoughts, he vaguely remembered that he was supposed to be carrying out a top-secret mission at the border.
But the scene before him felt far too real: the scent of arousing incense, the woman's coquettish murmurs, the warmth of the skin beneath his palm...
In the end, through gritted teeth and sheer effort, his reason prevailed.
"Wind Release: Wind Cutter!"
Iwasaki Shigeru let out a low roar.
As his chakra surged, a blade of wind swiftly formed in his hand, and he hurled it straight at the woman before him.
Yet the illusion did not shatter as he had expected.
Blood splattered.
The wind blade pierced straight through the body of the woman who had been on top of him just moments before.
Iwasaki Shigeru froze, staring blankly at the blood on his palm.
The smell of blood instantly reached his nostrils and soon filled the entire room.
"M-murder!"
"The ninja's gone crazy again!"
A jumble of footsteps, sobbing cries, the crash of objects knocked over and shattered...
Chaos swiftly engulfed the entire private room.
The women who had surrounded him scattered in terror.
They soon fled the room, shouting even louder.
Their cries quickly caused an uproar in the tavern.
"What's going on?"
A cool female voice cut through the clamor.
Soon, a female ninja with a voluptuous, graceful figure stepped into the room in her ninja attire.
She was tall and wore a Sunagakure uniform, but the top three buttons of her shirt were undone, revealing part of her full curves.
Her gaze swept over the scene before finally settling on Iwasaki Shigeru's face.
Clearly, she was a ninja the tavern had hired as security.
"You killed one of our people."
"I... I thought this was a genjutsu..."
Iwasaki Shigeru stumbled over his words.
In the end, he could only recount everything about how he had been carrying out a mission on the border of the Land of Fire.
The female ninja listened carefully, fell silent for a moment, then sighed softly.
"Another hallucination brought on by mission stress, making you mistake dreams for reality... There have been quite a few cases like this lately."
She took two steps closer and looked into his eyes.
"Do you still remember what the mission was? Who sent you? What were your companions' names?"
Iwasaki Shigeru opened his mouth, only to find that everything in his mind was a blur.
He tried hard to think, but no matter how much effort he made, he could not remember anything about the mission.
The mission details, who had sent him, his companions' names... all were as elusive as smoke.
"Could... could all of that really have been a dream?"
"It looks like you're far too mentally exhausted."
The female ninja's tone softened.
"This happens to a lot of ninjas after they've been on edge for too long. Perhaps... you need to relax completely."
Iwasaki Shigeru knew she was right.
Iwasaki Shigeru had indeed heard of similar cases: ninjas who had spent long periods under extreme pressure could become mentally unstable when they suddenly relaxed, mistaking dreams or hallucinations for reality.
He himself had once encountered a crazed Chunin in a tavern who insisted he was there on a secret mission, only to be taken away by the medical team in the end.
Back then, he had mocked those ninjas. Had he really ended up the same way so soon?
"But... it felt so real..."
Iwasaki Shigeru murmured.
"That's what makes hallucinations so frightening. They feel too real."
The female ninja spoke softly, her fingertips brushing across his chest.
"That's how we ninjas live, dancing on a knife's edge, hovering between life and death. It's perfectly normal to lose our way once in a while."
"I often find some male ninjas to help relieve my stress after a mission, too..."
As she spoke, she lightly ran the tip of her tongue over her lower lip and gave Iwasaki Shigeru a meaningful look.
Her fingertips gently traced down his chest.
Just as Iwasaki Shigeru thought she would go further and keep moving down, the female ninja suddenly chuckled and handed him a sheet of paper.
"Though I sympathize with you, please pay the compensation first."
"Huh? C-com... compensation?"
"Of course. Our tavern spent a lot on training her, you know. Posture training, etiquette lessons, special techniques..."
With a grim expression, Iwasaki Shigeru took the bill, only to discover that it was for just a hundred thousand ryo.
He could not help letting out a great sigh of relief.
"Phew~ Thank goodness. That's only the pay for a C-rank mission."
Remembering that the S-rank mission he had completed carried a reward of a full million, he let out a long breath and readily paid up.
The female ninja put away the payment slip, and her voice softened again.
"Money can buy a lot of things here. As long as you can afford it, you can find any kind of woman you want."
As she spoke, she leaned right up to Iwasaki Shigeru's ear and blew gently into it.
The tingling sensation at his ear made Iwasaki Shigeru relax completely.
His predatory gaze swept over the female ninja's body.
"Really? Does that mean even you're available?"
As he spoke, Iwasaki Shigeru's hands were already beginning to wander.
The female ninja giggled at his words.
"Of course~ For you, I might even do it for free~"
Breathing heavily, she undid another button on her shirt.
The last thread of Iwasaki Shigeru's reason finally snapped.